See the end for author's notes.

ACT I
Chapter 7. A Very Small Key

It's scary what can hide a smile.

The Marionette's contorted form slithered over a wall lazily. Its fingers were longer than normal, its stripes had moved down off its wrist and pointy little teeth marred its usual black smile.

Adding teeth to its mouth gave off a distant look that the Marionette would need for the task ahead. It pushed out off the hallway, heading for a door. Faded, yellow wallpaper that was more popular in the 80's crinkled under its movements. After a moment to collect itself, the puppet pushed the heavy wooden door open and looked over the threshold, into the tired looking room.

Digging into the day guard's business had yielded no results. And unfortunately, upon the discovery that Nightmare Chica had gone after Daniel, this absolved the boy of any more suspicion from the Puppet. Though loathe to admit it, Golden had been right. Daniel had taken a job at Freddy's for a different purpose, albeit an ill-fated one, perhaps. It had nothing to do with sabotage. That was left to the monsters created so long ago, by a child with no control and nothing but terror as a paintbrush.

Which lead the Marionette to its next conclusion and suspect, and not a happy one either. Dealing with a pesky human would still be immensely easy for it. Dealing with this problem, well, that was going to be another story. And the puppet was getting too told for bedtime stories, sad to say.

The Marionette suddenly wished it had thought to tell Michael a better good-bye. Well. Couldn't be fixed now.

It glanced once in the bedroom before slipping in, silent as a shadow.

Something moved on its left, a muzzle of teeth coming from the closet to attack the intruder.

The Marionette turned and casually ducked the swinging maw. Without a word, it took hold of the nightmare by its throat, slamming the much large monster brutally into the thin carpeting. The creature shrieked angrily, but the Marionette only let loose a hiss until the other animatronic's noises slowed and halted.

'I need to speak with that Atrocity you call a leader.' Metal bent from the deadly grip the puppet had on the pipeline throat of the thrashing monster. Its thin tongue snapped the air and orange eyes rolled helplessly as it finally slowed its movements with a creak of gears. There was only one thing the nightmares feared, and that was termination.

The Marionette shoved off the now submissive beast and alighted on the dresser. It followed the golden gaze toward the bed, but the puppet snarled softly.

'Not that one. The other one. Get him out here. NOW!'

At that sudden bark, the robotic monster scrambled out of its crouched pose and lumbered for the door opposite the one the Marionette had entered.

A heavy, wide flashlight rolled around the floor when its exposed metal feet knocked into it.

The Marionette heard the noise and paused to watch it until it bumped against the dresser stand, its flickering light illuminating under the bed. The light was not visible on the other side; something blocked it from passing through. In the back of its mind, the puppet felt the stir of its child as the Marionette turned their eyes to the familiar flashlight. Shaken and afraid, Arthur was sticking impossibly close to his guardian's inner self and the puppet could not find any fault in this. The Puppet allowed the crying child to hug it from behind, hiding in its black back. Good for Arthur, it seemed the Nightmares were hiding for the time being, more so out of fear of the puppet than anything else.

But accidents will happen when you have a lot of teeth. Arthur knew that better than anyone.

The puppet turned its gaze from the old bed cloth, listening to the sound of footsteps that were too heavy and slow to be that hasty fox. The Marionette was glad to have found the fox though, because it really had always been the fastest. That, and if any creature would be intimidated by the Marionette's presence, it would be the one who would forever hide in the closet, waiting to jump out and….scare someone.

Deep within its core, Arthur's weary, frightened soul gave the vocal equivalent to a whimper at the reminder of the fox and what used to hide behind its plastic, toothy smile. The puppet spared a second to soothe the poor soul, almost tender in its gestures until the Marionette noticed movement by the door.

Here we go.

Too red orbs glinted from the black, just over the threshold. Their white centers were ablaze with something far beyond the realm of human imagination, crossing over quickly into the black space of human emotions we tend to ignore in ourselves. Just because something was dark didn't make it evil; but this was not the case of the creature that stepped slowly into the bedroom.

This was dark. And it was malevolence on feet.

'You've been up no good, Nightmare.' The puppet whispered silkily as it slid down from the dresser, silent as a snake. Inside the Marionette, Arthur trembled as the vile, demonic result of his dying imagination grew ever closer. Nightmare eyed the puppet's odd, grotesque form up and down.

'UP TO NO GOOD HAVE I? I HAVE DONE NOTHING.' Its voice thundered, a constant angry thrum. Nightmare stopped its approach, black shadows masking most of its frame from prying eyes.

'You've been opening doors.' Marionette accused.

'YOU CAN'T GIVE THAT STUPID YELLOW WRECK A NEW SUIT AND NOT EXPECT ME IGNORE THAT.' Nightmare thundered and raised a fist. 'YOU ARE DONE GETTING MORE CHANCES. IT IS MY TURN!'

'Michael has nothing to do with our deal, you overgrown stuffed animal.' But at these words, Nightmare chuckled, and it's a terrifying noise.

'YOU CALL THE SUIT BY ITS NAME. THAT'S INTERESTING. DO YOU LIKE GOLD'S SUIT? I THOUGHT WE DIDN'T LIKE ANY ADULTS.' The Marionette didn't dignify that with a response, but its silence said it all.

'LITTLE MICHAEL. HE CAN'T BE A SUIT WITHOUT GOING THROUGH ALL FIVE NIGHTS, PUPPET. WASN'T THAT OUR DEAL?'

The Marionette's smile did not move, but it fell briefly silent, cursing. It had forgotten about that minor problem. Honestly, it had been so long ago too. Arthur's five nights had long been up, and the child and the puppet had sealed themselves together and returned to the restaurant when the children had gone missing. The Marionette hadn't meant to be gone so long, and Arthur with it. When it had given life to the other souls, it had neglected the Nightmares but given Arthur something he needed.

A family.

Now, all of that could be taken away because Nightmare decided to take offense to the new night guard.

'You were the one who let Nightmare Chica through. You knew what she would do.'

'FOR A BIRD, SHE'S RATHER STUPID, ISN'T SHE? THE FOOLS ARE ALL THE SAME. BESIDES…THE DEAL WAS: I MUST STAY HERE IN THIS PLANE AND THAT STUPID YELLOW COPYCAT ON THE OTHER. YOU NEVER SAID THE OTHER NIGHTMARES COULDN'T…WANDER.'

Another pause from the Marionette, having been caught again. Damn.

'YOU CAN'T BLAME THEM. IT'S BEEN AGES SINCE THEY HAD A SOUL TO PLAY WITH. I KNEW IF SOMETHING ENDAGERED YOUR PRECIOUS NIGHT GUARD YOU WOULD COME RUNNING, YOU STUPID TOY.'

But Nightmare wasn't finished, and his temper was growing by the second. From sparks to a wildfire, to a volcano ready to erupt. The puppet tensed, some deep instinct of self-preservation stirring in its mind.

'I'VE NOTICED WHAT'S HAPPENING TO YOU, YOU LITTLE BRAT. YOU'VE OUTLIVED YOUR USEFULNESS. I WANT THE BOY, AND YOU'RE GETTING OLD. IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO BE DECOMMISSIONED. DISMANTLED, AND…

DE-STROYED.'

Nightmare's foot found the flashlight and came down on it, hard. The light flickered once before dying out, casting the room in something darker than black had ever been.

'YOU CAN'T DANGLE MEAT ABOVE A BEAST AND NOT EXPECT IT TO BITE BACK.'

Before the Marionette could respond, Nightmare lunged with a bone chilling roar. The puppet tensed and sprung in turn, unwilling to go down without a fight.

It's scary what can hide a smile.

Back in the real world, blissfully unaware in the restaurant Mike sat in his chair in front of his desk. It had been a full day, and not a word from the Marionette. The restaurant was closed for the time being, and being worked on during the day. It was a little after ten right now, and the sun had set along ago in the chilly fall season. Wind howled outside, and the old gnarly trees surrounding the property creaked ominously, but Mike paid no attention. He also tried to ignore how quiet and empty it was without the puppet hanging around. It was only an hour before he found himself unable to stand the silence any longer.

With the new information Gold had given him, but still so much left unknown, Mike was on edge. More than ever he wished he had gotten more information from Mari before it had up and left. Mike wiped his hands nervously on his jeans as he stood up and headed for the dining hall.

"Guys, listen, we need to—Danny?" Mike halted in surprise. "You're still here? Everything okay?"

The teen in question shifted nervously beside the purple rabbit. You hardly saw the two of them apart lately, which was kind of cute. It reminded Mike of him and Freddy, so he didn't really see a problem with it.

"I was just…though I'd stick around and help if, if that was alright."

"Uh…yeah. It's fine." Mike said distantly, his mind jumping ahead several steps.

"Ah'know that look." Fazbear commented from beside the table he was folding up. The crew needed all the space they could get by the kitchen to fix it properly. "Mike's comin' up one of them plans of his."

"I thought I smelled smoke." Bonnie teased with a cackle, earning a dirty look from Chica.

"Care ta fill us in, lad?" Foxy asked calmly when Mike didn't answer. The night guard's faraway look faded and he blinked a few times. When he realized they were all looking at him, he smiled awkwardly and nodded.

"Freddy, you and Chica stay here and work on clean up. The Closed sign is up, but turn anyone away unless they've got a badge or are, like, dying. Got it? Great." Mike smiled when he saw them nod seriously.

"We'll be back."

"You be careful, son." Freddy called out. "You two take care of Mike and Daniel, now." He warned to Bonnie and Foxy. Foxy nodded, his jaw swinging, and Bon just saluted playfully.

"Awh, aren't I always?" Mike asked with a sweep of his arms and a shrug as he backed up.

"Why does he always ask tha?" Foxy scoffed to Bonnie behind his hook, looking bothered. "Like the answers ever any different besides 'no, ya bloody aint."

"I heard that, Captain." Mike called over his shoulder, tone pleasant and friendly as usual. There was a fraction of tightness to it, because Mike believed the best medicine to any ill will was fun.

"Just a lil observation, Mikey." Foxy tossed out with a sheepish inflection, his ears bobbing from side to side. Bonnie sniggered.

Mike rolled his eyes fondly as he headed for the west wing. "Whatever, c'mon you three."

"Me too?" Danny squawked nervously.

"You heard the boss!" Bonnie chirped, pushing his favorite human in front of him with a big flat paw. Danny yipped and glared at the towering rabbit. Mike ignored them both.

"Yup, you too Danny. I need all hands on deck for this, and since you saw a Nightmare already, you're one who knows the most about them."

Danny gulped, but scrambled along, walking between the pirate and the rabbit. Well, he didn't like the sound of that. Thought it seemed a stretch to assume Mike would use him as bait, this thought didn't help Danny's nerves like you would think it might. Mike was in front, and he felt a bit safer this way. Not that Mr. Schmidt was particularly physically threatening—actually, a kitten might have more of a chance of doing some damage—but he did have that cool security system lurking around. If Mike needed to, he would just use Gold again, wouldn't he? Keeping this in mind, Danny followed them down the darkened hall.

"What exactly is it that we're looking for, Bambi?" Bonnie finally asked when they made it to their apparent destination, the kitchen. It was weird not being able to use the swinging doors, but now the kitchen only had one safe exit.

"Clues, Bon." Mike said absently as he opened a kitchen drawer. Nothing. "Anything to give us some more insight on those Nightmares. We know what she did here, but what about where she came from? Where she went. We know there's a Chica one. Maybe she could lead us to the others."

"Others?! You want to find more of them?" Danny yelped before he could find his manners. His look clearly asked Mike if he was crazy. But the kid shrank at Foxy's critical look, while Bonnie's was a bit more sympathetic.

"It's the only way to figure out what's behind this mess." Mike stood up from behind a scorched counter, hands on his hips. "Mari's got a Nightmare side too, as you found out. But his acted differently."

"He still terrified me!"

"Yes, but he didn't harm you." Mike said. "You said that other Chica definitely did try to."

"Several times." Danny remembered with a hard, nervous swallow. "So what?"

"So, they're different. That means something. Because if they're being controlled, either they're programmed differently, or they're not being controlled at all. And we've got more robots on our hands. That can think." Mike pulled back from the walk in freezer, finding nothing of interest.

"Or ghosts."

"Ghosts?" This earned Bonnie a confused look from the night guard. The bunny shrugged best he could, metal shoulders sliding with twin creaks of noise

"All I'm saying is, we can't walk through doors and vanish. But Nightmare Chica sure did an awesome job at it."

"So…so keep eye out for ghosts." Danny suggested with an anxious little noise.

"That could be a problem." Mike admitted as he walked out of the kitchen and into the hall.

"Why's tha, lad?" Foxy asked.

"During the day, I don't believe in ghosts I guess." Mike said. "At night? I'm a little more open minded."

"I should hope so," Foxy grunted grimly. "Ya work wit'one after all."

This comment made Mike pause mid-thought. Thankfully, he did not pause mid-stride. "You're right. …The other kids passed on, and the only ghost I work with is Arthur."

Foxy looked visibly bothered by the name of the small child who was responsible for their creation. Well, indirectly. Arthur may not have murdered anyone like the man in purple, but the Marionette had tied the souls to the animatronics. So maybe the Puppet wasn't as much to blame as Arthur was. And even then, he was just a little kid! It was just a sad loneliness and crushing desperation to have company again that caused the child to wish for friends. Everyone knew what happened next.

The kids stayed behind only out of worry for their robot suits, who were getting blamed by King for murdering the night guards. The 'curse' had only been cracked at by Mike, by the puppet that needed to find a way to end what it had inadvertently started. The night guard in the other restaurant—not Fredbear's Diner, the one the Toy models were at—had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time when the Mangle snapped and bit. Mangle hadn't done it on purpose.

At the end of the day, this whole entire mess was all caused by someone who was just trying to do their job.

The children moved on, then Springtrap's haunted form was laid to rest only a month ago. Less, even. With 6 souls gone, the murderer put down, and Gold successfully passed on to Mike, that left…

"Arthur…" Mike halted, and Danny narrowly avoided colliding with his boss' back. "And Arthur didn't move on—Foxy, that's it! You're a genius!"

The fox's jaw shut with a surprised click. "Aye! …wut be it?" He muttered to Danny, who shrugged.

"How old is Mari, Foxy?" Mike spun, asking the fox eagerly. "Do you know?"

"Erh, can't say as I do, lad. The black devil was around in the establishment long before us four was activated." Foxy said, to the tune of Bon's little nod of agreement.

Right, Mike knew that. Gold had told him as much.

"Okay, well. Even without a number, he's old. Like, easily almost thirty, even forty years!"

"What does this have to do with the Nightmares, Mr. Schmidt?" Danny asked, echoing the fox's and rabbit's confusion.

"The puppet is like Gold. Or at least, he's headed there." Mike held his arms out in triumph, because this made perfect sense to him.

"The security system?" Danny muttered in confusion, but was ignored.

"Ah don' follow, matey." Foxy ventured calmly, looking at Mike as if he'd suggested they use the Red Fox for firewood.

"Yeah buster, explain!" Bonnie whined gently, not liking being out of the loop.

Mike shook his head, facing in frustration. "I'm not sure how to explain it yet. It's just a feeling! But I think, I mean, he's been around so long. He's not a normal robot anymore; you said it yourself Foxy. Arthur is a ghost, and all ghosts have unfinished business. Whatever is keeping Arthur here, is keeping the puppet up and running." Mike stopped and turned to his friends, pointing fingers. "Take Arthur away, and…" Mike winced and went on quickly.

"It's the reason you guys are alive, it's how he got me and Gold to join together in some weird…opposite suit-thing. The Marionette doesn't hold all the strings, Arthur does! It's like, it's like Arthur's the battery and the Puppet's the flashlight. You can't have light without batteries, and you can't use batteries without something like a flashlight casing. And whether he knows it or not, I think his, his spirit or something is trying to pass on." Mike slowed, a sad frown gracing his features as his looked down at his hands.

Discussing his best friend's morality was depressing as hell. And it only got worse when Mike's mind made a connection, making the night guard's hands drop uselessly to his side in shock.

"That's why Mari's been slowing down." He spoke softly, verbally feeling his way along. "That's why the Nightmares are getting through doors…they're both losing their powers." Mike's horrified blue eyes swiveled up to meet his coworkers, his friends, in growing dread.

"Guys…they're dying." Mike's brow furrowed in concern. "Again, in Arthur's case."

"…what do we do?" Danny finally asked lowly.

Mike hadn't even noticed his hands had closed into fists, or gold light flecked through his eyes. His gaze hardened, and he turned on his heel, storming down the hall.

"We help them, that's what."

"But, Mike—" Rarely did Bonnie ever use the night guard's name. "I don't think Fred would like this…maybe we should look into it, and you stay here—"

"No. I'm not being talked out of this. I won't make you guys come, though. But Mari and Arthur saved my life already. It's time for me to return the favor." Silence reigned, and Mike continued on his way, knowing he wouldn't be stopped now. Bonny and Foxy stepped after Mike without hesitation. After a second, so did Danny. As Mike had thought once before, there are some loyalties that cannot be bought.

Which was good for him, because he had a sneaky suspicious that he was going to need all the help he could get.

After checking every threshold in the restaurant, the four found themselves no closer than before to their attempt to reach the Marionette and Arthur.

"Are you sure nightmare Chica walked through this doorframe?"

"Positive." Danny stressed, eyeing it nervously. It looked as ordinary as ever. Bonnie's knuckles rapped against the beam support, but nothing happened.

"Maybe the way to the puppet and the kid is like…a actual door."

"Aye, we gathered that already, rabbit." Foxy complained, looking annoyed. Bonnie's ears bobbed in irritation.

"No, no! I mean, don't doors have knobs? Keys? Not all doors are just…open." Bonnie spoke slowly. "You know?"

This made the night guard pause, squinting at the door way.

"Bonnie has a point."

Bonnie shot a smug look at Foxy, but everyone paused when Mike headed for his office. Keys…Keys! The Marionette had given him everything he needed to come find them. Where ever that was.

"A very little key…" He muttered, as he walked. Finally he stopped, watching BB wander out from under his desk where he often lurked. "Can open a very heavy door."

Mike grinned in triumph down at the balloon blower.

"Hi?" said BB simply, wondering what Mike was up to now.

"You know how to find Marionette and Art, don't you BB?"

"…hello." The animatronic said slowly, nervously. Finally, it gave a shy nod.

"We need your help, BB. Arthur and Mari are in trouble, I need you to open the door for us. Please."

BB looked troubled, though his painted face didn't move, but he wouldn't look Mike in the eye for a long while. And then the robot changed.

Bonnie, Foxy and Danny all skidded to a halt behind Mike just in time to witness the eerie transformation.

The squat, usually cheerful looking animatronic was a warped figure of itself. BB stared up at Mike, four rows of needlepoint teeth keeping its jaw from shutting correctly. It wasn't so much a change as it was BB just…reforming various parts. But it was definitely magic, because fiber glass and plastic could not contort and stretch like that in reality. Mike swallowed nervously, staring at the long claws the robot sported. Shit, they were sharp.

"What the honey buns happened to BB!?" Bonnie squawked. "He looks ridiculous!"

"Hello." BB spoke out, and it was with a deeper voice that reverberated against them. It ended up sending shivers up spines. Even Foxy and Bonnie winced at the creepy, sudden bass.

"…annnd less ridiculous." Bonnie admitted softly.

"Okay, so." Mike started, trying to not to stare too much, "Just like Mari, you can change too. But there's an entirely different robot for Chica. Is that correct, BB?"

"Hi." The robot nodded, its smile gone in place of a maw that could have broken Mike's wrist.

"Can you…can you find a way to open that door for us? The one the Marionette goes through?"

After some clear consideration, the little helium bot reluctantly nodded and turned for the East wing door, where Chica used to lurk.

"Those 'hellos' mean something other than hello?" Danny whispered to Bonnie, who shrugged.

"Sort of. You get used to it; you just have to listen hard enough, kid." Bonnie pointed to one of his own towering ears as BB stopped just before the threshold to see better.

"This is the door?" Mike was busying asking Nightmare BB. "The entire time it was right here?"

"I dunno lad, the rabbit said that spooky form of Chica went through 'nother one." Foxy shrugged, metal feet clanking as he stepped into the guard room further. "Maybe…maybe it don' matter the door. Jus' the key."

"Like a skeleton key?"

"Not helping, Bon." Danny moaned, looking pale.

"Hello." Said BB, looking at Foxy with that grave expression. Mike fought another shiver, but only because somewhere in there BB still seemed to exist. The Nightmare form hadn't made him violent or wild. If anything, a sort of glum air hung around him, like he didn't like this body. Mike couldn't blame him.

Before anyone could say anything else, BalloonBoy drew up one long finger, held it just against the door frame, and dragged it down through the air.

Mike felt more than saw it, but he had an inkling that was only because of Gold. BB's clawed finger had caught something in the air, and as the finger sliced downward, the world seemed to tear like a cloth. The snag spread in a perfect line. A split second later everyone else could see it too, mostly because it had started spreading without BB's prompt. He had only started it.

The tear let shafts of golden light through, sizzling through the air as the lines followed the door frame and completed the shape of the threshold entirely. When it was finished, the hallway was no longer there.

Well, it was. But it wasn't the one from the pizzeria.

BB stepped back as Mike walked forward.

"Whoa…" He couldn't keep the wonder from his voice, and he reached out a hand. His fingertips met the strange portal. The world shimmered around his hand once or twice, before settling down. His fingers tingled, but nothing else happened. They could cross through without a problem. BB stepped back, as if to make it clear he wasn't going with them and they were going to have to find another way out.

"So we just…go through here? This is where Mari and Arthur are, BB?" Mike clarified once more, twisting to stare at the short bot.

Nightmare BB nodded quietly, but pointed to his wrist as if tapping the face of a clock.

"We have to go now or the door will close." Mike verbalized the gesture, and was rewarded with another nod. "Okay…okay. Foxy, you stay here."

"But—!"

"No buts, Captain!" Mike shot the frustrated looking robot a smile. "I love ya buddy, but if there's more Nightmares in here, a bigger group will be an easier target. Besides, Freddy and Chica need you here. An you and I both know you can't sneak very well."

"Or at all." Bon scoffed to Danny, who knew better than to grin.

Foxy growled a little, the noise more machine than animal. His ears were forced all the way back, and his tail switched as he lowered his large muzzle.

"Aye, lad." Unwilling to snap at their night guard, especially after he voiced his worry, Foxy turned to Bonnie and shoved his hook at him menacingly. "One hair on the lad's head gets hurt, rabbit, and you'll be walking the plank!"

"Save your batteries, Foxy." Bonnie waved his purple paw nonchalantly. "They'll be fine! Now let's go! I've never been out of the restaurant before!"

"I'm pretty sure you're going to be out of this reality, Bon." Mike said doubtfully as he pushed his hand back into the portal.

"Even better." The rabbit grinned, pleased at having found a loophole around the restaurant's biggest rule.

"Batten down the hatches, Captain." Mike called over his shoulder as he walked forward. "We'll be back."

"Aye, lad." Foxy replied. He and BB watched the three of them, two humans and one robot, walk through the strange, shimmering curtain that split the worlds.

"Hi."

Foxy looked down to see BB was back to normal. He gave an electronic sigh of exhaustion and exasperation. Granted, he couldn't get tired but he could feel it.

"Best go tell Fazbear, shall we?" Foxy grumbled as the portal faded. "Oh, he's gunna lay an egg when he learns about this. Less'go."

BalloonBoy didn't respond—either his short voice clip or his light laughter. He followed behind the fox silently. This was no laughing matter anymore; he just hoped his friends would be okay. For once, the robot had the small inkling that Mike was getting in over his head.

Nothing good existed in Arthur's mind anymore.

Mike's life sometimes seemed to be more or less like Night of the Living Dead. Only 'dead' was replaced by 'robots' and 'night' was replaced by five of them.

Oddly enough, walking through the portal BB had created was nothing special. They were simply in the restaurant and then they were in a dimly lit room with no windows. It happened so suddenly, no one noticed the large square faded from existence, leaving them stuck wherever they had ended up. Though maybe that's how magic was. More specifically, how the Marionette's—or Arthur's—magic was. There was only enough of that strange force to get the job done, and it didn't bother with fanfare, sparkles and all the stuff movies had gotten them used to seeing.

For some reason, Mike almost wished there had been something gaudy or frivolous during the trip into this world.

Looking into the hallway yielded little to no results. It was cramped and small, just like the room they were in. It looked the room of a house, maybe a closet, albeit a big one. If it was a bedroom, wouldn't it have windows? Strange. Dark blue carpet crunched softly under Mike's sneaker as he leaned out into the hall and looked around.

"Be careful Mr. Schmidt. It's…it's so dark." Danny finally whispered toward his boss, hanging back behind him. His safety left when Mike started walking forward slowly.

"Don't be afraid of the shadows, Danny." Mike offered just as quiet as he edged out a little more. "That just means there's a light shining somewhere. We need to find it."

"Before something else finds us." Bonnie commented grimly as Mike stepped over the threshold.

"Thanks, Bon." Mike snorted, but cut off the rabbit's reply when he heard a noise.

"Stop," He breathed, "Did you hear that?"

"No." said Danny, who sounded out of breath despite standing stock still with the rest of them.

"Yeah." Said Bonnie softly, his large ears stiff and focused. "….to your right. 2 o'clock."

Mike looked to his right to far, staring at the little child sized chair. It was empty, and it sat beneath a window. Outside was a velvet night sky with speckles of stars. A measly, small source of light but light nonetheless. On either sides of the chair were two more doorways, but blackness prevented any of them from seeing what was in the rooms.

When Mike turned his gaze from the end of the hall, there was another faint scuffling sound, barely audible with Bonnie's processors whirring like they were behind him.

Mike's brain slammed into overdrive. They were standing still, and standing still meant an advantage over whoever it was moving, because moving gave away your position. Unless of course, the thing doing the moving caught up to them. But the night guard didn't earn his position for his winning smile, and he was an ace at spotting patterns. At the end of the day, everything had a pattern.

And he was starting to figure this one out.

"Bon?" Mike breathed as softly as he dared, leaning back a little until he heard the click click of those massive ears. Bonnie couldn't see the thing scuttling in the shadows either, but he didn't need to. He could hear it, with much more clarity than the two humans in front of and behind him.

"Yeah?"

"On the count of three, wherever your ears tell you it is, look at it. And turn on your optic's back lights." Mike paused, teeth clenched tight as he craned his ears.

"Got it."

"One…" Shuffle shuffle.

"Two…" Silence. Shuffle.

Shuffle—

"….three!"

Bonnie's floodlight eyes came on, and as if on cue the body dropped into a slumped, sitting position. It looked harmless enough, sitting in the bright circle cast by Bonnie's optics. But they had all seen it move, and the jig was up. Its jaw hung wide, stout teeth glinting in the beams of Bonnie's eyes. Mike glanced at that jaw and was instantly glad the rabbit didn't need to blink. It looked just like BB's.

"What…what is it?" Danny finally ventured. "How did you know it would freeze under the light?"

"Another robot?" Mike shrugged. "All of them do that. Uh, with some of the older models, it actually can cause damage. Foxy in particular…" Mike thought back to one of his first encounters with his friend when he was holding a flashlight. "Does not like bright lights."

"No we do not." Bonnie clarified. "It's one thing if we're doing it. Another thing entirely if your aiming them at us. Freezes our systems. See?" Judging by the frozen, slouched little rabbit animatronic, this thing was somewhat related to the Fazbear animatronics.

"Is it, is it gunna hurt us?"

"I don't think so…maybe. I mean. It's so small. It looks like…" Mike sucked in all his air in surprise, eyes wide. "It looks like Springtrap." They stood there, Bonnie and Danny arguably still in the dark, empty room that they had ended up in, and Mike one step away from being in the little narrow hall. He studied the crumpled robot doll closely, eyeing its torn features, its small stature. Only its ears would make it taller than BalloonBoy. If this thing attacked, Gold could have swallowed it whole, or ripped it apart just by grabbing and pulling.

Mike swallowed. Not that he liked violence, but Gold was, as Danny put it, a nice security measure. A just in case policy, if you will. Suddenly, Danny noticed something they others hadn't.

"Mr. Schmidt. Mr Schmidt, it's looking at us." Danny whispered from behind Bonnie. Bonnie's illuminated eyes remained locked on the other bunny robot, but Mike's moved to stare at the black orbs that served as the rabbit's optics.

And so it was.

"Springtrap?" Mike said the name again, and this time an ear twitched. The eye lid plates narrowed. Mike tried to decipher this body language. Whatever this thing was, maybe it didn't like its name. Or maybe that wasn't its name.

"Move the light a little, Bonnie." Mike said. "I want to see what he does."

"Seriously? It might attack!" Bonnie's voice box was on its lowest volume, the nearest thing to a whisper the animatronics could reach.

"And do what, knaw off your suit at the knee?" Mike hissed out the side of his mouth in exasperation. "Just do it, Bon!"

"Fine!" The beams of light rose off the little form.

Like a match had been struck under it, the yellow bunny sprung up and scampered into one of the darker rooms where Bonnie's lights weren't able to reach. Mike, Danny and Bonnie all shrieked a little bit and grabbed at one another, but soon relaxed when nothing else happened. Bonnie had the bright idea to aim the lights directly in front of them. If the thing bolted in front of them, hopefully the lights would stun it enough to stop it. Or at least slow it down.

Mike slowly relaxed his death grip on the rabbit's arm.

"…think it's gone?"

"N-no." Danny choked out, unwilling to loosen his muscles yet.

"Bon, can you tell where it is at least?"

"Uh…eleven o clock? Maybe." At the night guard's look, Bonnie raised his arms in exasperation. "Don't look at me! Why does the rabbit have to do all the work? I only have a layout of the restaurant, remember?" Bon gestured to their new surroundings.

"And, in case you hadn't noticed, Toto, we aren't exactly in Kansas anymore."

Mike frowned, but his friend was right. "How long will it take for you to build a map?"

"I need to see into all the rooms, Einstein. Until then I can only track noisy objects. If it's behind a wall or too quiet, forget it."

"Right. Well, we'll make due." Mike inhaled sharply and edged out again. "But keep your cameras on. As soon as you have a layout, tell me."

"You'll be the second to know." Bon replied, accidentally lifting his floodlight gaze. The scampering got louder.

"Bon—!" Danny yelped, ducking behind the rabbit as something lunged at Mike.

"Gyahh!"

Mike went down, arms above face and waiting for teeth to sink in his arms, or chest or even his throat. He felt weight on his stomach though.

Nothing.

He peeked open an eye.

The little bugger sat on his chest, expression that could only be described as immensely pleased with itself. It chomped the air before Mike, making the panting night guard freeze, before it pushed off and scurried back onto its chair. It slouched over, jaw slack and eyes down.

No one moved for a second.

"…Mike? You okay?"

"I…I think so." Mike managed, getting his shaking legs under him with help from Bonnie. The rabbit had trained his illuminated optics back on the small rabbit in the chair, and it stayed stock still. Sort of. Now that Mike looked, he could see its small optics watching them. Watching Bonnie.

"…it kind of looks like a stuffed toy like that." Danny remarked carefully. "Y'know? All it did was…tackle you."

"Yeah. Just a plushie, right?" Mike agreed, cocking his head in confusion. He had been 'attacked' by the thing, but it had just pushed off and hurried off. It wasn't out of fear either. It just seemed bored when it realized the little stalking game was up.

"Looks like a trap, if you ask me. Especially if you considered the bigger model. Plushtrap." Bonnie grinned, "Though it is nice to see another bunny."

"Plushtrap…" This time, Mike saw its ear flick. Its eye plates pulled away from its optics, making it looked happier.

Now that he was in the hallway, Mike could see the taped X at the end of the long hall. He looked once more at the door ways, the empty rooms and the chair. Mike thought he heard a grandfather clock chime somewhere, or a dog's bark. It was a distant sound, and Mike glanced warily at the hallway that stretched beyond the X on the floor.

This was a house.

Something wiggled in the back of Mike's brain.

Bonnie and Danny made noises when he moved, but the guard stopped in front of the chair and studied 'Plushtrap' quietly. The eyes were still moving, and this confirmed Mike's suspicions.

"You weren't affected by the lights at all, were you?" Mike frowned, tilting his head as he tried to find another reason for the strange behavior. His mind brought up Arthur, along with the way Plushtrap's eyes had crinkled mischievously when he was forced to flop to the ground under the lights. It had been faking, like this was all one big joke.

Or a…prank.

Suddenly, and with a little crinkle of old fur, Plushtrap raised its head. It looked behind Mike at the X expectantly, before back up at the human. A game is always more fun when play correctly, after all.

"You were playing….right?" Mike searched his memories. "Like red light green light only…different. Your version."

Again, the worn, yellowed rabbit peered at him with an impish, gaping smile.

One chapter left for this Act. Stay tuned (for danger!) ...Erh, I've been playing Nancy Drew pc games lately. I hope you guys are enjoying the story! Remember, once you go down hill you begin to pick up speed...